SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento County prosecutors will not file any criminal charges against radio staff in the water-drinking death of a Rancho Cordova, Calif., mother of three, officials announced Monday.

Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, participated in an on-air “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest in the break room of KDND (107.9 The End) Jan. 12.

Contestants were challenged to drink as much water as possible without vomiting or urinating, with the hold-out contestant winning a Wii Nintendo gaming console.

Prosecutors noted that Strange participated willingly and could have left at any time. Also, she was not in any danger of a medical emergency that would have been apparent to the “Morning Rave” staff, the statement says.

“Any reasonable person wouldn’t have concluded that she was seriously ill or in danger of dying,” said district attorney’s spokeswoman Lana Wyant. “There were no red flags.”

Strange came in second place and said on air that her head hurt and she felt light headed. Hours later, Strange’s mother found her dead in her home.

Sacramento coroner’s officials said she died of apparent water intoxication.

Other water-drinking contestants told The Sacramento Bee in January that on-air staff whipped up a party-like and competitive atmosphere among the group.

Tapes of the contest indicated that disc jockeys were aware that drinking excessive amounts of water could be deadly.

During the show, a woman called warning of the dangers of water intoxication and disc jockeys joked about people “dying in there,” referring to the contestants in a break room.

“Maybe we should have researched this,” one of the DJs said on air.

Contestant Jennifer Winsor, reached Monday night, said she was disappointed that no charges were filed.

“I’m kind of surprised,” she said. “There was negligence. (Radio staff) knew what they were doing, even though we didn’t know what we were doing.”

Entercom spokesman Charles Sipkins released a statement after hearing of the prosecutors’ decision: “This was an unfortunate accident, and we continue to extend our deepest sympathy to the Strange family.”

Earlier this year, the death sparked international interest, drawing out debate over individual responsibility versus the dangers of shock-jock radio stunts.

Several days after Strange’s death, officials at Entercom – which owns KDND – fired five on-air members of the “Morning Rave” show and five support staff.

After The Bee obtained tapes of the contest, Sacramento Sheriff’s officials announced a death investigation, which was the basis for the prosecutor’s report.

The DA’s statement discusses one involuntary manslaughter case in which a woman was held liable because she had a “duty of care” to a drug abuser who she supplied drugs to. She ultimately left the man to die in her shed.

However, the statement says no such relationship existed between Strange and the radio staff, as Strange was “an adult who was voluntarily participating in the radio contest.”

John Myers, a criminal law professor at McGeorge School of Law, said the DA’s decision hinges on the notion of “duty of care.”

On one hand, he said, there was no responsibility like what a parent has to a child. But on the other, the radio station brought contestants “into the fold,” presiding over the contest.

“This is a tough call – but exactly the kind of tough call where we want prosecutors to exercise their discretion,” he said.

In the DA’s statement, there was also discussion of the February 2005 water-intoxication death of a Chico State fraternity pledge. In that case, four members of the fraternity were charged with involuntary manslaughter.

That case is different from Strange’s because students involved in the death were committing an “inherently dangerous” misdemeanor – hazing. No such crime was being committed when Strange died, the statement says.

With criminal charges ruled out, Sacramento attorney Roger Dreyer said a civil wrongful death case will move forward.